Fate In The Iliad Essay

Homers “Iliad is a war poem thoroughly permeated with religious elements, from sacred institutions to divinely decreed fate to heightened experiences of battle figured as divine engagements.”(Kitts 231). The Iliad has been historically remembered over past centuries and has influenced the religious viewpoints of many. It’s important to know “that Homer was aware of past religious tradition and secondly that the majority of the members of his Olympian family possessed familiar cult names.”(Dietrich 137). This shows that ideas within the Iliad are greatly tied to beliefs of religion, beliefs that were passed down between centuries. Now “[f]rom an internal perspective, the Iliad is overwhelmingly religious. It is constructed around institutions supported by gods, the actions, personalities, and

The fate several mortals face within the Iliad comes from the decision of the gods of Olympus. The final decision of many mortals always lies with Zeus. Even though discussions take place with all the gods deciding the outcomes of mortal’s lives, Zeus must always have the final say. It’s greatly seen throughout the Iliad that the “the constraints of fate and the unsurpassable will of Zeus pervade nearly every critical juncture of the action.” (Kitts 227). We see Zeus as a powerful immortal being in the Iliad when the god Hephaestus begs his mother Lady Hera not to further anger Zeus. Hephaestus explains to his mother that “[t]he Olympian can be rough. Once before when I tried to rescue you [h]e flipped me by foot off our balcony. I fell all day and came down when the sun did [o]n the island of Lemnos scarcely alive.” (Iliad, I, 619-625). Through this unimaginable power, Zeus is able to have control over all mortals and install fear into his fellow immortals. It has been demonstrated through the Iliad that the powerful Zeus and his immortals corrupt the notion of human free will and turn it into an